Skip to main content

Day One Hundred Forty Eight (Year Four)

Finally stumbled upon the other bag of books and CDs from the trip to WI tonight.  I know I listed everything out as I found it, but in looking at it I'm struck again how big of a pile it is.  I started listening at the bottom of the pile, with Waxahatchee's Cerulean Salt.  I'm only a few tracks into it, but it's great so far.

Picked up the acoustic again tonight.  Ran through the chords for "Let Her Go" again.  I really like that song.

I also sat down at the recording console tonight, and took a listen to the ideas that I had set aside as possibles for the power pop record I've talked about forever.  I came away with things I'd adjust, but feeling hopeful over all.

I've started thinking, in a vague way, about 2014, and some of the things I'd like to accomplish.  The first thing that came to mind is songwriting.  I know I've said it at various points the last 6 months or so, but I really need to write more songs in 2014.  I know I've got a distinct voice with words, but I need to try and shine a light on what that voice sounds like from a lyrical perspective.  One of the things I said I wanted to do when we moved to Dubuque, was to write and record a project for each year we live here.  Starting on the first of the year, I'll have about 8 months to get that finished.

I also want to:

1) do a better job of splitting my time between acoustic and electric.
2) work on a set list and play some gigs
3) continue to find my voice on the instrument.
4) finish organizing both the studio and the lesson binder.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day Three Hundred Nine (Year Seven)

Well, it happened.  We came, we saw, and we (sort of) conquered.  I'm not sure how great we played all the way through, but there were definite moments that went really well, and all things considered (from my side anyway), it was an absolute blast and I hope we get to play again for something that's not church related. The set list, as it was, went like this: 1.  I'll Fly Away 2.  From This Valley 3.  Crazy 4.  My Church 5.  Jolene 6.  Long December 7.  You & I 8.  Can't Help Falling In Love 9.  Hey Jude It was an interestingly eclectic group of songs, with more bluegrass and country than I would have expected. It definitely took us a little while to get our feet under us, and on some level I felt like we were just getting warmed up by the time "Hey Jude" ended, but it was a start, and I'll take that any day.

Day One Hundred Forty Two

So, I haven't been sleeping much lately, and I've been staying up late. listening to music, doing a bit of playing, and watching old episodes of Behind The Music on the internet. It's funny, you know, because I never met the rest of my "band," I've become the critic. It's all right, don't get me wrong, but for a decade now I've always hoped that I'd find a way to release something. It'll happen, I know it will, but it's continually happened slower than I expected it to. I've gotten close to getting something released, as I've documented before here before, but with the winter coming and the cold closing in, I'm facing another chance to make something musical of the winter. I'm going to start by finishing up the old things that have gotten pushed to the sides in the last few months. With the buildup of everything since the summer, it should be easier. Even if all I do is spend the winter writing lyrics, trying to g...

Day Ninety Three (Year Six)

Today was an interesting day. On one hand, it wasn't a day where I spent a ton of time in the studio, but on the other hand, it was a day where the time that I did spend in the studio was probably the most productive time I've had in a long time.  In short, even though I didn't spend all that much time working on the EP tonight, I feel like I got a whole lot closer to finishing it. I've been frustrated with myself lately for not finishing things a bit quicker, and struggling with the fact that, while I have been successful at finding a whole lot of kernels of songs, they haven't seemed to want to sprout into completed works.  Tonight, instead of freaking out and making myself more stressed out, I sat down and looked at a few favorite songs to see if I could sneak a peek behind the veil, if you will. The answers jumped out at me immediately.  I haven't been doing enough with the kernels.  Mostly, I haven't been facilitating the chord changes that will a...